Domino card game played within container

ABSTRACT

A domino card game having a plurality of playing cards and a container-playing field with a removable cover. The, cards are marked with two sets of pips in the manner of domino tiles with numerical designations on the upper left-hand corner of each card. The container-playing filed serves as the playing field for a domino-like card game, the sides of the container protecting the game from disturbances. The cards are played by two to four players, by placing their cards in turn, within the container by covering at least a set of pips of the previously played cards remaining visible within the container. The container with lid stores the playing cards and the sides of the container protect the cards from wind and other disturbances during the game.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention relates to games. More specifically, this invention relates to an improved game of dominos where the domino tiles are substituted with cards marked with pips, spots or dots in the fashion of dominos, but the domino cards are played vertically within a playing field defined by a closable container for storage of said domino cards.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] The game of dominos with tiles is very popular throughout the world. There are many types of tiled domino games existing today. Most of these games use tiles, or pieces of hard rectangular material, the length of each tile usually about twice the width of the tile. On the back side of the tiles, there are no individual markings, that is all the back sides of the tiles are identical so that they are indistinguishable each from another. But the face side of the rectangular tiles are marked with dots, or pips.

[0005] Traditionally, the face side of the domino tile is halved into two square fields occupying the opposite ends of the face side of the tile. Each tile is marked different from the others according to the markings in the fields. Each field is marked or embossed with a set of pips into the tile. In one game of dominos, the number of pips marked in the fields ranges from no pips “naught” to six pips to compose 28 uniquely marked tiles. A more advanced game using these same principles has 45 uniquely marked tiles with field ranges from zero or “naught” pips to nine pips. My invention works for either game.

[0006] The game of dominos can be played by two to four players, sometimes the four players becoming partners, depending upon the rules of the game. Before every tile domino game, one of the players shuffles the tiles face down on a flat playing horizontal surface, thoroughly mixing them by moving them around the surface with his hands so that no one can follow the location of any of the tiles. The shuffler's hands may not stay on the same tiles while shuffling, and is the last person to draw his hand for the game.

[0007] After the tiles are shuffled, in one set of rules, the players take an equal number of tiles, each player hiding the face tiles from the others. If there are remaining tiles, then these are left face down on the horizonal surface to be used to draw from during the play.

[0008] The tiles are then played by placing tiles onto the horizonal playing area in its unique manner. Usually the first player or starter having the double-six starts, that is the person having the tile with six pips on each field (at both ends), places the tile onto the horizontal playing field to create the line of dominos. The line of dominos at this point has sixes on both ends. The player, to right of the starter tries to match an end of the line of dominos, which at this point are both double-six's. This player must place a tile having a six field from his hand onto the horizontal surface so that the six field on his tile is adjacent to either six field at the ends of the line of dominos. Because every tile is unique, this means that the end of the line of dominos will change to a different number field. If the player does not have a tile with a six field, then that player must pass (or draw from the tiles left face down on the horizonal playing area) and the next player to his right tries to match the end of the line of dominos.

[0009] As the game progresses, the tiles are placed at ends of the line of dominos with exposed dominos onto the horizonal surface. Often the line of played domino tiles expands to the edge of the playing area causing the line of played dominos to be long and take up a lot of space on the horizonal playing area.

[0010] Because there are often disturbances during the play, tiles sometimes fall off the playing board exposing the face side of the tiles to others. Because of the need for a large horizontal area, the game becomes inconvenient to play in a moving vehicle or on a park bench or on a person's lap with the players seated side by side.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] While the rules of play for my game are very similar to the rules for tile dominos, my invention provides for domino cards to replace domino tiles. In addition, my game provides for the playing field to be within the confines of the domino cards storage container. In this way, only the top cards played are displayed to the players since they become interlockingly stacked in a vertical fashion within the container. This substantially improves the game in several important ways: as the game proceeds, many of the cards played within the container become covered. The covered cards must be remembered by the players in order to become proficient in the game. The players who can do so have an advantage over other players who either are not able to remember played cards or are ignorant of the advantage of remembering the covered cards. Thus, this form of dominos offers a greater challenge to domino aficionados over tile played dominos.

[0012] My invention also permits playing my game of card dominos in places where dominos played with tiles is difficult or not possible. Because my invention provides for the container to be the playing field. This enables the game to be played in situations not possible or difficult with domino tiles. The enclosed sides and ends of the container assist in protecting and maintaining the domino cards in the sequence they are played so that the game can be played in moving vehicles such as in cars, buses, trains, or on park benches and other situations where wind may disturb the played cards. As noted, the container serves to store the cards when not in use and is closed with a slidable cover or lid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective of my invention with section lines indicating the relative size of the cards with relation to the domino card container.

[0014]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the removable top for the container.

[0015]FIGS. 3A, B and C are serial fanciful views of the entire set of card dominos in a preferred embodiment of 28 domino cards.

[0016]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of two domino card hands indicating by lines how the first card is placed into the container playing field.

[0017]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the two domino card hands indicating by lines how the second card is placed into the container playing field.

[0018]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the two domino card hands indicating by lines how the third card is placed into the container playing field.

[0019]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the two domino card hands indicating by lines how the fourth card is placed into the container playing field.

[0020]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the two domino card hands indicating by lines how the fifth card is placed into the container playing field.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0021] My invention provides for a rectangular container 1 sized to receive and store an entire set of playing cards 10 therein, the interior size of the container permits the domino cards to be placed end to end within the container 1. The interior playing field 2 of the container 1 is the playing field of the game as will be described below.

[0022] Container—Playing Field

[0023] The container 1 is closable with a sliding a rectangular cover 5 across the upper opening. The cover 5 closes the interior of the container 1 by sliding within groves 6 longitudinally cut into the upper portion of the sides of the container and sized for the thickness of cover 5. The groves 6 are cut into the interior sides 7 of the container 1 is closed as indicated by the broken lines 8. When the cover is closed, the cards 10 inside the container are secure and protected from any disturbance or becoming misplaced. This container 1 becomes a storage container for the cards 10 as well as provide the playing field 2 for the game, as will be described below.

[0024] The sides of the container 9 provide protection to the played cards 11 from wind and other disturbing factors. This invention provides, therefor an ideal game for playing where normally motion would disturb played cards such as in moving vehicles, cars, trains, boats airplanes and the like. The invention is also ideal for playing where wind is a factor such as on a beach or in a park or where there is no room to otherwise play, since the container 1 with playing field 2 occupies such a small space it can be conveniently placed between two players almost anywhere, such as a park bench, for example. Because the container 1 serves as both the storage container for the domino cards and playing field 2, the game is easily and quickly stored when the game is suddenly interrupted. In addition, because the game is played with domino cards and not domino tiles, the game can be played silently without the clicking and noise often associated with dominos hitting a hard surface.

[0025] The Cards:

[0026] In one embodiment, the domino cards comprise a set of 28 rectangular cards similar in size to an ordinary playing card. The back side of each of the cards 10 features the same arbitrary, fanciful design so that the cards can not be identified one from the other by the back side 11.

[0027] With view of FIGS. 3A,B and C, the face side 15 of each domino card, shown here on card 0-0 (“naught-“naught”) is numerically marked with a two unique numbers, 16, 17 each number is marked in a half-area occupying the half-side of the face of the card. The numerical designation of each card also is located in the upper areas of the card, at the left-hand region and upside down in the lower right-hand region of card so that the markings are can be seen correctly when the card is rotated by 180 degrees about the center of the card.

[0028] The face side 15 of each domino card is divided into an upper half and lower half, where pips are marked in each half-area in a fashion similar to tile dominos. Here 18 indicates three pips on one of the half-areas of the domino card and 19 indicates the four pips on the other half-area of the domino cards, the half-areas arranged in a domino fashion. When the card is rotated by 180 degrees about an axis through the center of the card, the four pips 19 exchange in position with the three pips 18 but the set of numerical designations of the card at the upper left-corner portion remains the same. This is due to the rotational symmetry of the placement of the two sets of numbers. One set of numbers are marked in the top left-corner portion of the card and the second set of numbers are marked upside down at the bottom right-corner portion of the lower half-area of the card. This becomes useful when holding a number of cards in the hand and only exposing the upper regions of the cards because the pips are covered as seen in FIGS. 4-8. The player may hold a hand of cards without having to rotate the cards to know the two sets of pip values of each card. They are visible at the corner when the cards are held in a fan-like fashion, the two pip values of every card is easily seen.

[0029] In this embodiment the numerical designation of pips on each card is set forth in FIGS. 3A, B, C and can be also be listed as follows: naught - naught six - six five - five four - four naught - one one - one five - six four - five naught - two one - two two - two four - six naught - three one - three two - three three - three naught - four one - four two - four three - four naught - five one - five two - five three - five naught - six one - six two - six three - six

[0030] It can be observed that each domino card is uniquely designated by two half-area on the face side, each half-area having a set of pips of varying numbers from naught (or zero) to six, inclusive totalling 28 unique domino cards in this deck, each domino card in the deck marked with a unique set of pip values. Other embodiments of decks of domino cards have pip values even higher, such as another popular version of dominos having all the sets of pips from naught-naught to nine-nine, inclusive. The naught to nine set of domino cards is also readily within the concept of my invention, the domino card game played in the same fashion as described below within a playing container with lid sized to receive this number of domino cards.

[0031] Description of Play

[0032] The domino cards 10 are played using similar rules to tile dominos. But instead of playing tiles on an unlimited horizonal playing field, the cards 10 are played within the container by placing the played cards into the interior field 2, vertically in a manner that will expose the pip markings only on the top cards to be matched and covering the cards previously played.

[0033] To begin, cover 5 is removed from the container 1 by sliding it along the groves 6 and the cards are removed and then shuffled in the usual manner. The open container 1 is then placed between the players. The cards are then distributed to the players as playing cards. In this embodiment, seven cards are then distributed to each the players, face down so that the other players are not aware of the content of the other hands. The undistributed cards are placed aside to be drawn from as will be described below. This game may be played from 2 to 4 players, either individually or in team play as in tile dominos. When there are four players either playing individually or in teams, all the cards are distributed at the time of the first deal.

[0034]FIG. 4 illustrates two different players' hands to explain the manner of play and how the cards are placed into the playing field container 2.

[0035] Hand 21 illustrates seven domino cards that have been distributed to player A while hand 22 illustrates seven domino cards that have been distributed to player B. The rules provide that the person with the highest value pair of pips. In this case the six-six card starts the play. As illustrated in this example of play, the six-six card 25 was contained in player B's hand 22. It is removed by player B and placed into the center of the playing field 2 in container 1, as shown by broken lines 30. Player B will have only six cards remaining from this play, assuming two players. In this illustrated event neither player has the six-six card, so the player to the right of the dealer must select a card from the drawing pile (not shown). If that player does not draw the six-six then the player must keep the drawn card and then the next player to this player's right become the next player. That player must then draw a card from the drawing pile. This goes on until the six-six card is eventually drawn, at which point it is played by the lucky player.

[0036]FIG. 5 illustrates an example of playing the second card by the next player. As shown here, the next player A must play a card that matches the six, being a card having a pip set value within one-half area of the card equal to a pip set of the last played card. In this case, the game started with a six-six marked in the half-areas, so the next card must contain a six pip set in one of the half-areas. As illustrated, the four-six card, 26 was found in player A's hand 21 and is placed in the playing field 2 at either end of the interior of the container as shown by the broken lines 31. In this example, card 26 was placed at the near end 35 of the playing field 2 although it could have been played at the far end 36 since both pip sets of the prior card were the same, six.

[0037]FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the next play, here player B playing the third card. As shown here, player B must play a card that now matches a six or a four, being the half-area pip sets of the last played card. In this case, the five-six card 27 was selected from player B's hand 22 and is placed at the far end 36 of the playing field 2. It is noted that this card 27 can only be placed in the far end 36 in order to match the six pip set half-area of the first card. Now, the half-area ends of the domino cards stacked interlockingly vertically comprise four at the near end 35 from the second card and five at the far end 36 from the third card. A six pip card may not be played at this point because both six pip ends have been now played. In terms of strategy, the ideal card to play next would be a card having pips five-four half-areas, since that would make the ends both either five or four, depending upon how it is played. Making both ends of the line of domino cards the same number, limits the selection for following player to play from in his hand since the following player must have the card with the only number of matching number of pips.

[0038]FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the next play, here player A playing the fourth card. As shown here player A must play a card that now matches a four at the near end 35 or a five at the far end 36. In this case, the two-five card is selected from player A's hand 21 and is placed at the far end 36 of the playing field 2 as illustrated by broken lines 33 so that the far end of the line of dominos played vertically becomes a two pip. Thus, the ends of the line of domino cards played interlockingly vertically are now two and four which must be matched by the next player. In terms of strategy, the ideal card to play next would be a card having a 2-4 to make both ends of the line of domino cards played vertically the same number of pips.

[0039]FIG. 8 illustrates an example of the next play, here the player B playing the fifth card. As shown here, player B must play a card that now matches a four at the near end 35 or a two at the far end 36. In this case, the two four card is selected from player B's hand 22 and is placed at the far end 36 of the playing field 2 as illustrated by broken lines 34 so that the far end of the line of domino cards played vertically becomes a four. Note that now, both ends are four forcing player A to respond from hand 21 with a card having a four pip. If player A does not have a card with a four pip, then the player must draw a new card, lowering the chances to win.

[0040] The conclusion of a round occurs when one of the players can not play a domino card having a pip matching the ends of the line of domino cards. When this happens, according to the agreement of the players prior to starting, the winner of the round is the other player in the case of a two person game, or is the player with the least number of pips. A variation of the game permits the players to just skip the player unable to play due to lack of the appropriate card to permit the other players to continue, in their turn to the point where a player has played all his cards into the playing field, at his turn.

[0041] This game lends itself to versions of play, for example where the winner of each round counts the points left in the hands of the losers. The player or team if four are played, that is first to earn an agreed total number of points is declared the winner.

[0042] After the game, the cards 10 are placed into the container, and the container 1 is closed by sliding the cover 5 into the groves 6.

[0043] While the above description contains many specifications, there should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as an exemplification of a preferred embodiment thereof. Many other variations of my game are possible, for example instead of the half-areas having pip-values ranging from naught to six, the value of pips in the half-areas could also range from naught and nine, inclusive. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiment illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents. 

I claim:
 1. A domino-card game played within a container comprising: a deck of domino cards; a back side of each card having indistinguishable markings; a face side of each card; a pair of pip values, the first pip value marked at an upper half-side of the face side and the second pip value marked at the lower half-side of the face side; the pip values corresponding to a set of tile dominos; the container having an upper rectangular opening sufficiently wide to receive the playing cards and sufficiently long to receive two playing cards placed end-to-end and sufficiently deep to receive the deck; a lid to open and close the upper opening; the game played by matching sets of pips of a played card to sets of pips of exposed previously played card, the played card placed interlockingly vertical above said a matched previously played card within the container, above the matched set if pips.
 2. The game as claimed in 1 further comprising: a first set of numbers designating said pair of pip values of said card, marked near the top left-corner portion of the upper half-area; a second set of numbers designating said pair of pip values marked upside down at the bottom right-corner portion of the lower half-area, the second set of numbers having 180 degree rotationally symmetrical about an axis through the center of the card with the first set of numbers.
 3. The game as claimed in 1 wherein the domino fashion provides for the cards to be distributed said players; a first card is placed within said container by the player having the highest value pair of pips in said deck; a next and subsequent cards placed within said container in an order by players able to match the domino pips of the previously placed card, the cards placed above the previously placed card covering at least one of the half-areas of the previously placed card.
 4. The game as claimed in 1, wherein the pip values range from naught to six, inclusive.
 5. The game as claimed in 1, wherein the pip values range from naught to nine, inclusive. 